English Language Learners Resources for Classroom Teachers iPad Ideas
Symbaloo is a bookmarking tool that reminds me of how I have my computer set up when I open a new tab, all my favorite sites are just a click away. Symbaloo works the same way! You can create tiles for all your favorite sites, you can access it from any device, and share what you know with whomever you wish. The following video is an introduction to the possibilities:
This video shows you how to use SymbalooEDU:
This is a screen shot of a Symbaloo that I found for teaching ELLs. It is a list of free National Geographic eBooks. Using nonfiction is an integral strategy for instruction because students can easily connect to their background knowledge; content is the same in any language with the exception of history (fact is tainted by the perspective of the author). In addition to the resources, it greatly improves the ease of access. Since my time with my students is very limited, being able to find things easily on the iPads is important to me and this tool is accessible on all devices. Students can also, create their own Symbaloos to have their own learning resources readily available.
The Builder series developed by Kyle Tomson are awesome for students learning English. I have Sentence Builder and Preposition Builder on my but Story Builder is also available. All these apps provide strong scaffolds for students just learning with strong picture support. The logos all look similar so they should be easy to find.
The Preposition Builder focuses on a few related prepositions at a time. Upon mastery, settings can be changed. What I really like about this app is if students make an error, the picture changes to show students what the preposition means as exemplified by the cage "on" the tiger instead of "in" the cage. Although humorous, the students can see the error.
The Sentence Builder provides scaffold pictures students to use so they don't have to be slowed down trying to think of ideas for applying sentence structure knowledge.
Weekly Reader & Popplet One of the easiest strategies for instructing ELLs is to incorporate semantic maps. ELL students can create webs of background knowledge for before reading, can edit during reading, and organize their thoughts after reading or add new learning. When instructing ELLs, using nonfiction is also powerful. Since I don't have many resources designated for ELL instruction, I try to find online resources whenever possible. When I was a first grade teacher, I used to subscribe to Weekly Reader. Weekly Reader can be expensive for districts that are cutting budgets. However, if you go to the website, you can find samples of texts to supplement my lack of nonfiction texts and I can differentiate by grade level since I service K-6. I have read that archived texts are available but I am not sure how to access them now that I don't have a paid subscription. .
Depending on their native language, nonfiction content areas contain many cognates. Cognates are words in two languages that are visually similar, are pronounced similarly, and have similar meanings. In English and Spanish, words such as activities/actividades, and attention/atencion are examples of cognates. Some appear exactly the same but are pronounced differently as in color/color or cereal/cereal. Colorin Colorado provides an extensivelist of cognatesif you would like to reference it. Teaching students to look for these cognates can help them connect to their native language and transfer knowledge they already know into English as well as ease potential anxieties.
Popplet is a paid app ($4.99) that is available on the web as well as iPads. There is also a lite version for free. The lite version limits you to 5 popplets at a time but it is very easy to export them to a variety of sites or you can save them as a PDF but then you are not able to edit it. The app makes mapping quick and easy. You can color code the boxes to organize the information however you wish. In addition to text, photos can be added to enhance meaning. By combining the Weekly Reader with Popplet, I can hold students accountable for demonstrating their thinking.
Endless Alphabet
One of the greatest challenges I face daily is expanding my ELLs vocabulary. The Endless Alphabet app is advertised as a tool to teach vocabulary. However, the majority of videos I have found show babies using the app. While I understand that I need to back up to the beginning, those videos make me question its usage in the classroom. Students playing this app will hear the sounds of the letters as they drag the letters to the correct placement within the word as in the following video. This is helpful in some ways but not in others: from my experience, vowel sounds appear to always make the short sound except for 'u' and letters that should be silent within a word still produce a sound when touched. Perhaps, I need to play with the app more to decide. After watching the video, please feel free to share your opinion in the comments section.
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After all the letters are in place, the word will be pronounced to provide a model for correct pronunciation for ELLs. Additionally, monsters will act out the definition with picture props. This app will update the vocabulary words so that students are constantly being introduced to new terms. This feature is the part that got me excited to further explore this app to begin with. From the few I have seen, it seems as though the creators did a good job of animating the definition. The monsters, however, seem geared toward younger participants. I try to respect the maturity level of my students but often times, they don't seem to mind if the games are babyish as long as they get to play.
Wordventure!
Another strategy to help ELL students is to explicitly teach parts of speech to improve their English grammar. Did You Like to Play Madlibs as a Kid? This app is like a digital version of those books that used to humor me. Students simply choose a word that fits the category as exemplified by the image on the left. After they have chosen, words will be inserted into the text in a different color.
In addition to being fun practice for parts of speech, this app also asks students to choose a word from various categories. This could serve as practice for applying new vocabulary words even though it may not make sense in the text but even this could serve as a springboard for discussions. Students would have to apply academic language to explain why this vocabulary does not apply to this text.
Another can be used as an informal assessment. When errors occur, teachers will easily be able to identify areas of weakness. Hopefully, as students read their excerpts aloud, they will begin to notice when it "doesn't sound right" depending on their stage of language acquisition.
Classroom Teacher Resources and Responsibilitiesfor ELL I am not sure if you are all aware that this past summer, the Connecticut State Department of Education had added an additional column to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to include the ELL frameworks. Prior to that, it was a separate document but now it is so much easier to see how the frameworks correlate to the standards. Frameworks are differentiated by grade level. For a complete listing, please use the following link: CCSS ELL Frameworks. CTB/McGraw-Hill, Inc. has also correlated the LAS links to CCSS. For further information, please consult Alignment document.
In addition to the CCSS and ELL Frameworks, it might be helpful to consult LAS links level descriptors. As a classroom teacher, I was often given a universal descriptors sheet for the ELLs in my room but in actuality, there are LAS level descriptors for each grade level up to grade 5.
One of my most favorite resources to give teachers are ELL Strategies for Classroom Teachersdesigned by Connecticut Alliance RESC (Regional Education Service Centers). Even as an ELL teacher, I have these laminated and at my disposal for easy reference. It is very helpful because not only does it provide general BEST practices for instructing ELLs but it breaks it down by LAS Links level giving characteristics for each level, questioning techniques, and instructional strategies. For example, if you have a student on level 1 student, they are at the beginner or pre-production stage so you can expect and do the following:
Student Learning Characteristics:
Questioning Techniques:
Specific Teaching Strategies for Level 1:
• Understands very little English
• Stage lasts 6 months to one year, typically
• May not talk at all; “silent period”
• Is learning to understand basic conversation and
instructions such as “hello, how are you, sit down, line up, color.
• Is beginning to speak in one and two word phrases
• May have cultural conflicts or misunderstandings
• Ask yes or no questions (i.e. “Is this a…?”, “Does this…?)
• Use “point to”, “circle”, “find”, “show me”, “draw”, “match”
• Ask student to categorize objects
• Teach basic survival English, such as “bathroom”, “lunch”, “home”
• Help the student to learn the classroom and school routines
• Use visuals, such as pictures, gestures and pointing
• Create “I need” cards for student to hold up when he or she needs something
• Use a student buddy, if possible someone with the same language
• Label objects around the room and around the school in English and other languages
• Provide books and audiobooks with patterned sentence structure and pictures
• Provide books and audiobooks in native language
• Use bilingual picture dictionary and have student create personal illustrated dictionaries
• Be patient, give the student a few weeks or months to adjust
When I was getting certified for ELL, the instructors taught many of the laws that apply to ELL students. While, many teachers do the following naturally, I hadn't realized the list of responsibilities was as long as it is. Classroom teacher responsibilities according to Connecticut State Department:
General Education Teachers with ELL Students Responsibilities:
• assume the primary responsibility for the instruction of the ELL students in the class,
in partnership with the TESOL and other resource staff;
• align Common Core State Standards with CSDE ELL Framework, K-12;
• plan and implement lessons for each content area using sheltered instruction strategies
according to the level of English language proficiency of ELL students in the class;
• provide ongoing support to the ESL teacher and together, collaborate to develop
strategies to help ensure academic success in making content areas comprehensible for
all ELL students in their class;
• teach ESL skills embedded in the content area with appropriate modifications for ELL
students aligning content with CSDE ELL Frameworks;
• utilize staff development opportunities to increase understanding of ELL students’
needs and to learn effective second language acquisition strategies;
• modify tests and assignments giving consideration to the student’s level of English
• recognize that students exhibit varying levels of readiness based on age, home
environment and experiences;
• set high expectations for all ELL students to ensure earlier and more equitable
opportunities to learn to speak, read and write English through extended interactions
with teachers and peers;
• encourage parents to read to their children in English or in their native language,
where applicable, to develop comprehension skills and provide a literacy-rich
environment; and
• value and understand the cultural background of the ELL students and families to
make them feel more connected to their classroom and engage families in fostering
students English language development.
The simplified version from Capell(another resource) include:
•Content, language and classroom assessments should be adapted to students’ individual language levels.
•Vocabulary needs to be explicitly taught with many opportunities for interaction.
•Students’ first language and cultural experiences should be validated, respected, and shared.
Click on the image to take you to the website!
This image is a link to to our Wikispace for our ELL students, just click on the picture!
English Language Learners
Resources for Classroom Teachers
iPad Ideas
Symbaloo is a bookmarking tool that reminds me of how I have my computer set up when I open a new tab, all my favorite sites are just a click away. Symbaloo works the same way! You can create tiles for all your favorite sites, you can access it from any device, and share what you know with whomever you wish. The following video is an introduction to the possibilities:
This video shows you how to use SymbalooEDU:
The Builder series developed by Kyle Tomson are awesome for students learning English. I have Sentence Builder and Preposition Builder on my but Story Builder is also available. All these apps provide strong scaffolds for students just learning with strong picture support. The logos all look similar so they should be easy to find.
The Preposition Builder focuses on a few related prepositions at a time. Upon mastery, settings can be changed. What I really like about this app is if students make an error, the picture changes to show students what the preposition means as exemplified by the cage "on" the tiger instead of "in" the cage. Although humorous, the students can see the error.
The Sentence Builder provides scaffold pictures students to use so they don't have to be slowed down trying to think of ideas for applying sentence structure knowledge.
Weekly Reader & Popplet
One of the easiest strategies for instructing ELLs is to incorporate semantic maps. ELL students can create webs of background knowledge for before reading, can edit during reading, and organize their thoughts after reading or add new learning. When instructing ELLs, using nonfiction is also powerful. Since I don't have many resources designated for ELL instruction, I try to find online resources whenever possible. When I was a first grade teacher, I used to subscribe to Weekly Reader. Weekly Reader can be expensive for districts that are cutting budgets. However, if you go to the website, you can find samples of texts to supplement my lack of nonfiction texts and I can differentiate by grade level since I service K-6. I have read that archived texts are available but I am not sure how to access them now that I don't have a paid subscription.
.
Popplet is a paid app ($4.99) that is available on the web as well as iPads. There is also a lite version for free. The lite version limits you to 5 popplets at a time but it is very easy to export them to a variety of sites or you can save them as a PDF but then you are not able to edit it. The app makes mapping quick and easy. You can color code the boxes to organize the information however you wish. In addition to text, photos can be added to enhance meaning. By combining the Weekly Reader with Popplet, I can hold students accountable for demonstrating their thinking.
Endless Alphabet
One of the greatest challenges I face daily is expanding my ELLs vocabulary. The Endless Alphabet app is advertised as a tool to teach vocabulary. However, the majority of videos I have found show babies using the app. While I understand that I need to back up to the beginning, those videos make me question its usage in the classroom. Students playing this app will hear the sounds of the letters as they drag the letters to the correct placement within the word as in the following video. This is helpful in some ways but not in others: from my experience, vowel sounds appear to always make the short sound except for 'u' and letters that should be silent within a word still produce a sound when touched. Perhaps, I need to play with the app more to decide. After watching the video, please feel free to share your opinion in the comments section.
After all the letters are in place, the word will be pronounced to provide a model for correct pronunciation for ELLs. Additionally, monsters will act out the definition with picture props. This app will update the vocabulary words so that students are constantly being introduced to new terms. This feature is the part that got me excited to further explore this app to begin with. From the few I have seen, it seems as though the creators did a good job of animating the definition. The monsters, however, seem geared toward younger participants. I try to respect the maturity level of my students but often times, they don't seem to mind if the games are babyish as long as they get to play.
Wordventure!
In addition to being fun practice for parts of speech, this app also asks students to choose a word from various categories. This could serve as practice for applying new vocabulary words even though it may not make sense in the text but even this could serve as a springboard for discussions. Students would have to apply academic language to explain why this vocabulary does not apply to this text.
Another can be used as an informal assessment. When errors occur, teachers will easily be able to identify areas of weakness. Hopefully, as students read their excerpts aloud, they will begin to notice when it "doesn't sound right" depending on their stage of language acquisition.
Classroom Teacher Resources and Responsibilitiesfor ELL
I am not sure if you are all aware that this past summer, the Connecticut State Department of Education had added an additional column to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to include the ELL frameworks. Prior to that, it was a separate document but now it is so much easier to see how the frameworks correlate to the standards. Frameworks are differentiated by grade level. For a complete listing, please use the following link: CCSS ELL Frameworks. CTB/McGraw-Hill, Inc. has also correlated the LAS links to CCSS. For further information, please consult Alignment document.
One of my most favorite resources to give teachers are ELL Strategies for Classroom Teachersdesigned by Connecticut Alliance RESC (Regional Education Service Centers). Even as an ELL teacher, I have these laminated and at my disposal for easy reference. It is very helpful because not only does it provide general BEST practices for instructing ELLs but it breaks it down by LAS Links level giving characteristics for each level, questioning techniques, and instructional strategies. For example, if you have a student on level 1 student, they are at the beginner or pre-production stage so you can expect and do the following:
• Stage lasts 6 months to one year, typically
• May not talk at all; “silent period”
• Is learning to understand basic conversation and
instructions such as “hello, how are you, sit down, line up, color.
• Is beginning to speak in one and two word phrases
• May have cultural conflicts or misunderstandings
• Use “point to”, “circle”, “find”, “show me”, “draw”, “match”
• Ask student to categorize objects
• Help the student to learn the classroom and school routines
• Use visuals, such as pictures, gestures and pointing
• Create “I need” cards for student to hold up when he or she needs something
• Use a student buddy, if possible someone with the same language
• Label objects around the room and around the school in English and other languages
• Provide books and audiobooks with patterned sentence structure and pictures
• Provide books and audiobooks in native language
• Use bilingual picture dictionary and have student create personal illustrated dictionaries
• Be patient, give the student a few weeks or months to adjust
When I was getting certified for ELL, the instructors taught many of the laws that apply to ELL students. While, many teachers do the following naturally, I hadn't realized the list of responsibilities was as long as it is.
Classroom teacher responsibilities according to Connecticut State Department:
General Education Teachers with ELL Students Responsibilities:
• assume the primary responsibility for the instruction of the ELL students in the class,
in partnership with the TESOL and other resource staff;
• align Common Core State Standards with CSDE ELL Framework, K-12;
• plan and implement lessons for each content area using sheltered instruction strategies
according to the level of English language proficiency of ELL students in the class;
• provide ongoing support to the ESL teacher and together, collaborate to develop
strategies to help ensure academic success in making content areas comprehensible for
all ELL students in their class;
• teach ESL skills embedded in the content area with appropriate modifications for ELL
students aligning content with CSDE ELL Frameworks;
• utilize staff development opportunities to increase understanding of ELL students’
needs and to learn effective second language acquisition strategies;
• modify tests and assignments giving consideration to the student’s level of English
• recognize that students exhibit varying levels of readiness based on age, home
environment and experiences;
• set high expectations for all ELL students to ensure earlier and more equitable
opportunities to learn to speak, read and write English through extended interactions
with teachers and peers;
• encourage parents to read to their children in English or in their native language,
where applicable, to develop comprehension skills and provide a literacy-rich
environment; and
• value and understand the cultural background of the ELL students and families to
make them feel more connected to their classroom and engage families in fostering
students English language development.
The simplified version from Capell(another resource) include:
•Content, language and classroom assessments should be adapted to students’ individual language levels.
•Vocabulary needs to be explicitly taught with many opportunities for interaction.
•Students’ first language and cultural experiences should be validated, respected, and shared.